San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich's not a big fan of being asked about "keys to the game." For the second consecutive contest, the uncompromising Popovich received the same question. Sunday, he was in top form. Monday was quote-of-the-year worthy.

Popovich on Sunday, asked about 'keys to the game': You're kidding? Ö Score more points than them. Play hard. Come on. This is ridiculous.

Popovich on Monday: Did you ask me that last night? Say whatever you want. It's transition D. It's making shots. Don't turn it over. It's all bull[crap]. Have more points than they do, that's the key. Just make it up and say I said it. I don't care.

Gregg Popovich on OKC's run: "As sad and disappointed as we are, you really have to think about it's almost like a Hollywood script for OKC in a sense. They went through Dallas, last year's champion, then they went through the Lakers, then they went through us. Those three teams represent 10 of the last 13 championships ... I don't know if anybody has ever had a run or gone through a playoff playing those kinds of teams. It's just incredible and I think it's pretty cool for them."

And through it all, as Pop's international strategy has become the strategy in the NBA -- seven GMs and five head coaches this past season grew from the Spurs' tree -- it's always been framed in Moneyball terms: Go somewhere other teams aren't, find talent nobody else finds. But to spend time inside the Spurs organization today is to uncover another interpretation of the Spurs dynasty: that as America's youth basketball pipeline has produced a type of player that Pop has no interest in coaching, he has found an advantage not only in targeting international players but in avoiding domestic ones.

And so it's no surprise that Pop would rather teach unentitled foreign players to be selfless than try to teach entitled domestic players to suppress their egos. The international kids, he says, "have less. They appreciate things more. And they're very coachable." Of course, it's much easier when his best player, Duncan, who was raised in the Virgin Islands and learned the game by playing point guard in pickup games on a rugged outdoor court, is best known for putting team first; when Parker, raised in France, is okay trading stats for wins; when Ginobili, raised in Argentina, is fine coming off the bench. And the Spurs have whiffed on imports (Luis Scola) and scored with Americans (Kawhi Leonard).

Most of the foreign players not only have more experience playing basketball but more experience playing an unselfish style, with lots of passing and motion and screens, as messy as it is pure. As Spurs director of basketball operations Sean Marks, a New Zealander who played for San Antonio for two seasons, puts it, "The ball doesn't stick." For better or worse, the ball often sticks in America. A few months ago, Pop was scouting an opponent. He won't say which one. On video, Pop saw an international player wide open for a shot, with a confused look on his face. That's because his point guard, an American, was dribbling in circles. "It has to be a really different experience for him," Pop says, laughing. " 'Where am I? Is this is a different game? Is it a different sport?' "